Samsung Foundry’s poor yields were probably the largest reason why Samsung decided not to use the home-grown Exynos 2500 application processor (AP) on the Galaxy S25 flagship series. Typically, Samsung would have had the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ powered by the Exynos 2500 AP in all markets except for the US, China, and Canada (which is NOT a US state or territory). In those markets, the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. The top-of-the-line Galaxy S25 Ultra sports the same Snapdragon AP in all regions.
Dropping the Exynos 2500 for the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy cost Samsung a whopping $400 million since the manufacturer had to shell out big bucks to Qualcomm for the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoCs to replace Sammy’s own Exynos 2500 chips. $400 million is nothing to sneeze at. Samsung surely doesn’t want to have to write another big check to Qualcomm for the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy AP. As a result, Samsung Foundry is hard at work trying to get its yield for the Exynos 2600 up to the 70% level that most foundries like to see before they mass-produce a chip.
The Exynos 2600 AP is going to be produced on Samsung Foundry’s 2nm process node. Trial production at that node generated only a 30% yield rate for Samsung Foundry so even if Sammy decided that a 60% yield would be okay, there is still some work that has to be done. The risk for Samsung is that the yields of the Exynos 2600 remain low enough that Samsung can’t build enough chips to cover its needs.
Tipster @Jukanlosreve opened the “X” app to post a tweet that makes plenty of sense. In it, he writes that with Samsung’s 2nm node still delivering worrisome yields, use of the Exynos 2600 for Galaxy AP will be limited to European versions of the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+. He adds that an unnamed industry source informed him that at 3nm, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 delivers a performance advantage over the 2nm Exynos 2600 SoC. That could be great for US buyers of the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+.
All Samsung wants to avoid here is paying Qualcomm to equip every Galaxy S26 unit with its latest flagship AP which was the case with the Galaxy S25 line. Samsung reportedly has until the third quarter of this year to finish the Exynos 2600 design for the AP to even stand a chance of powering some Galaxy S26 units next year.
